Praesidium

Monday, July 17, 2006

European Seeding

One more (can't resist it...)

This beeb story reports that Chelsea are only to be amongst the second seeds for this year's Champions League, and goes on to say:

The Blues now face the possibility of facing reigning champions Barcelona who knocked them out of last season's competition at the first knockout phase.They missed out on a top seed in that campaign ensuring a difficult clash against the Catalans.

In fact, I think nothing of the sort was ensured by the seeding: the reason they faced Barca was because they came second to Liverpool in the group. Hopefully the same will be true of this year's Premiership table...

Zidane

Still no computer, so of several things I'd been wanting to say (aside from that update) you'l have to make do with this one (prompted by Rob's own thoughts)

It's interesting that FIFA have been keen to stress that the fourth ref did see the incident and that video evidence was not used. While it would, of course, have been an injustice if Zidane had stayed on the pitch, getting away with a headbut (as Figo did versus the Netherlands), it would have been an injustice of another sort - procedural - if he had been sent off on the grounds of video evidence, given that it is not currently permitted in football (unlike cricket, or American football).

Perhaps this shows you can't always be fully just. Maybe it has wider implications for equality (distributive or democratic), but I'll have to leave this for another day.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Computer

Unfortunately, my computer died last night. I think it may have over-heated, and I hope it's not absolutely terminal - but it certainly isn't a problem that's just gone away, so I'll be largely off-line until I can get it fixed.

Monday, July 03, 2006

Interview

Well, today was the big interview for the Lincoln job. I actually know that not everyone who (I heard) applied was interviewed, so I suppose I did well just to get to the shortlist. I did see the list in the lodge, however, and know at least two had doctorates and all more experience than me. (Including my friend Miriam, who was just before me, and wished me luck in that slightly awkward ‘I want you to come 2nd’ way that happens in these instances)

The panel consisted of the senior tutor, plus a Philosophy and Economics tutor from Lincoln and – as I expected – Roger Crisp. I was a bit nervous about talking about Mill in front of him, since he wrote the standard textbook on him, but I’d prepared myself for it. I’m not used to standing up and giving lectures, even of just ten minutes, so there was some ‘erm-ing’ and glances at my notes to refresh my memory. Nonetheless, I think I got through it ok – I survived at least – and was able to handle the questions, though perhaps I could have been more convincing.

After the presentation, there were some general questions about my research – how long I thought I had left to go, how much of a hindrance teaching would be. I did say that actually consolidating my general grasp of moral and political philosophy would be useful for my research. I forgot one, perhaps crucial, part of my prepared answer though – I meant to point out that since I’d have to take a year out I’d be able to dedicate myself fully to teaching, and not worry about balancing that with the research anyway. Too late now.

The other thing I forgot to ask was whether there’d be a replacement for their departing Politics tutor – Dr Daniel Keleman (who wasn’t present). I did, however, ask their Philosophy tutor a question about how they teach first years (they do Mill, General Philosophy and Logic, unlike some colleges, which only teach two of these), which may have been a good question to ask since he hadn’t said much.

It was all over in 20 minutes – considerably less than the advertised 40, which probably isn’t a good sign. Unfortunately the other thing I didn’t ask was when I’m likely to hear. Probably quite soon, if there weren’t many people to interview. At least, whatever the outcome, I survived, and hopefully the experience will stand me in good stead for next time.

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Bellamy Charged

I've been quite excited at the prospect of adding Bellamy to our attack. While at Newcastle he seemed a trouble-maker, at Blackburn he's shown he can play. Hopefully he'll turn out to be a late bloomer, and add both pace and skill to our attack. Unfortunately past misdiscretions may have caught up with him - he's just been charged by police. I still hope he'll make his Liverpool debut in our friendly against Wrexham on the 15th.

About Me

I'm Associate Professor in Political Philosophy at the University of Southampton. Blog posts are made in a personal capacity, but do not necessarily reflect my final considered thoughts on any matter. I like to think out loud and encourage others to join the debate. Otherwise, I'm just talking to myself.

Ben Saunders is a participant in the Amazon Europe S.à r.l. Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk.